


Blackout

by stand_by_me



Series: Clack Week 2016 [4]
Category: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Crisis Core timeline, M/M, Power Outage, Sharing Body Heat, Sort-of Smut, more cuddles because why not, wild rice soup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-07-29 21:21:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7700089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stand_by_me/pseuds/stand_by_me
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the coldest night of the year in Midgar, and Cloud sneaks away from the barracks to hang out with his boyfriend for food and a movie. Everything's great until the power goes out - Cloud's first blackout.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blackout

**Author's Note:**

> Dun dun dun! My first upload for Clack Week! I took the theme of "firsts" and this happened, somehow. The wild rice soup is a thing because I wrote this on my phone in Maine, and of course I get a craving for it the week I'm not home...
> 
> Note: this is the first fic I've written with anything resembling smut, so constructive criticism is appreciated! Because I'm an ace woman on the more sex-repulsed side of the spectrum, so me writing smut is kind of hilarious. I don't plan to write it _often_ , but...a certain longfic will have a chapter with it and practice makes passable.

_I hear tonight’s gonna be the coldest night of the year. You’ll be okay in the barracks? I know they like to skimp out on the heating. –Zack_

Cloud felt a rush of warmth, the wonderful feeling of being cared for. It had taken some getting used to, from the first time he’d gotten motion sickness in front of Zack back in Junon to their first real date. Every date after that, too. Smiling, he texted back.

_Dude, I’m from Nibelheim, remember? People start wearing their summer clothes as soon as the snow melts there. Sometimes before. –Cloud_

Another minute passed. _I don’t doubt how awesome you are, but consider this: you and me, warm soup, a warm blanket and lots of cuddle time. Just let me pull you out of the barracks and we can make it happen. –Zack_

_Don’t bother coming to get me, I’m on my way up. But an official excuse would definitely be good. –Cloud_

He waited for his shift to end and headed straight for the tower, taking a quick detour to the side entrance. The Turks who watched the SOLDIER quarters knew Cloud was a friend of Zack’s, but they still wouldn’t let him use the elevators without an escort. It was just better luck to just take the stairs.

It was a testament to his hard training that Cloud wasn’t out of breath when he reached the First Class floor, tired from a long day on patrol and ready to see his boyfriend.

Tiptoeing down the hall in an effort to remain under stealth, Cloud suddenly found himself in the grip of strong arms.

“I missed you even more than usual today,” Zack said, turning him around to steal a kiss. Two kisses. Three kisses.

“Let’s not do this in the hallway, okay?” Cloud said, prying himself away from Zack with a smile.

Zack laughed, leaning in for one more peck despite Cloud’s (very weak, he admitted) attempts at protest. “Why not? No one else lives on this floor except Sephiroth, and he’s never here anymore.”

Which I’m super grateful for. Sephiroth…I hope the hero worship isn’t too obvious. “Where’s he been, anyway?”

“I think he’s been sleeping in the labs,” Zack said. “Insomnia medication and all that.”

Cloud shuddered. He hated the labs…every time he went through the SOLDIER exam, that was always the worst part. _And that crusty old scientist…what a creep. Looking at everyone like they’re not even human._

“Anyway, I cooked soup,” Zack said, changing the topic and ushering them both inside his two-room apartment.

“Did you really?”

“Well, I bought it from the shop downstairs and heated it up on the stove, which is basically the same thing,” Zack admitted.

It was wild rice, a nice touch. “Did you really get this from that shop?” Cloud asked, savoring every bite. “I didn’t know they sold it outside Nibelheim…”

“Alright, I’ll fess up. Angeal made a bag of wild rice mix and gave it to me for my birthday last year…I just found it in the back of a cupboard, and I thought of you.”

The atmosphere grew quiet. Cloud was one of the few who knew how the man had died, he’d been there, but it was the hardest thing Zack had ever had to do, and his mentor’s absence hung like a shadow. I hope we’ll never have to go through anything like that.

“I really appreciate this, Zack,” he said after a minute, stirring what was still left of his soup. “It reminds me of home…”

“I got your message about that,” Zack said, and Cloud felt himself turning pink. “Don’t be embarrassed! It was really sweet. I just thought, maybe we can’t actually go visit your home anytime soon, but I could at least give you a taste of it.”

_You’re already as much of a home to me as Nibelheim ever was_ , Cloud thought, but he didn’t say it out loud. “Thank you, seriously.”

“You’re welcome, seriously,” Zack replied with a wink. “You ready for cuddles?”

“I’m _always_ ready for cuddles,” Cloud said, running into Zack’s room and changing into one of the old t-shirts and pairs of boxers he usually kept there.

Zack had a very inviting mountain of blankets ready when he came back, and Cloud snuggled up against his boyfriend, soaking up his mako-assisted body heat.

“Mmmf,” Zack said, wrapping his arms around Cloud and resting his chin on his shoulder. “Did you shower before coming up? You don’t smell sweaty at all.”

“I had a double shift, so I didn’t have any conditioning,” Cloud answered with a sigh. “Movie?”

Zack picked out a spy comedy, their favorite genre (a lot of the characters were very obviously inspired by certain Turks, and comparing the actors to the real thing was hilarious). Cloud relaxed and let Zack keep him warm, enjoying the company. _This is way better than shivering in my bunk._

That is, until the lights and the TV all cut out at once, leaving them in a dark silence, the only light the gentle mako glow of Zack’s eyes.

“Power outage,” he said in wonder, pulling Cloud closer. “Damn, it’s real lucky you came up tonight. The poor guys in the barracks are gonna be, like...dog-piling for heat. At least that’s what we did when I was still down there.”

“What, the heating’s powered by mako?”

“Seriously? _Everything_ in this town is powered by mako,” Zack said. “The lights, the heating…even water filtration, if I remember correctly.”

“You have some bottled water, right? We’ll be fine,” Cloud said. How bad can it be? _The power will be back on soon, and we’ll be okay._

“This is your first power outage, isn’t it?” Zack asked calmly.

“…Yes? We didn’t really have those back home.”

“We don’t get them here either,” Zack said. “Which means…someone took everything offline on purpose. Shinra, rebels, who knows, but everyone’s gonna be kept in the dark until they can cover it up.”

“And in the cold,” Cloud added.

“Yep,” Zack said. “Even the locks are electric, so we could be stuck in here for hours or days. Wow, the temperature’s already dropping…wait here, I’ll grab a sleeping bag.”

Cloud felt the loss as soon as Zack got up, curling up in the blankets and resisted the urge to shiver. “Wait…Zack?”

“Mmm?” came his voice from somewhere to his right.

“Why don’t we just move camp to the bed, sleeping bag and all? The mattress is gonna be warmer than the floors anyway,” Cloud said, and another moment passed before he felt himself being lifted off the floor.

“Zack, I can walk,” Cloud complained, wincing when his ankle hit the corner of something.

“I don’t want you to run into something and hurt your gorgeous face,” Zack said, leaning down to kiss the corner of his forehead. “Also, I gotta be stupidly romantic every once in a while or I’ll lose my ‘cheesy boyfriend’ card.”

“Can you see in the dark with the mako or something?” Cloud asked, as Zack deposited him on the bed somewhere.

“Um, no. I’m not a cat,” Zack said, sidling up next to him. “Sleeping bag’s under us, by the way.”

Cloud crawled under first, resisting the urge to make a joke about this being the lamest camping trip ever. Zack slid in after him, trying to settle down for a moment before leaning over on top of Cloud. “Hey, you wanna make out?”

“We won’t be able to take it farther,” Cloud said, resisting how amazing the offer sounded. “No water to wash up, and…you put the condoms in the safe, didn’t you?”

“Yes? Why would that…oh,” Zack said, resting his forehead against Cloud’s shoulder. “Why’d you let me do that?” he groaned.

“Because it sounded like a good idea at the time,” Cloud said, thinking. _It’d definitely be an exercise in self-control, but why let so much free time together go to waste?_ “You know what? I don’t even care. Let’s do it.”

“Have sex?! But you just said—“

“No, make out, stupid,” Cloud said, feeling for the back of Zack’s head and pulling him down until their lips met.

It only took a second for Zack to really get into it, working his mouth against Cloud’s and rolling their hips together in a way that was so, so right. _Gods, I love you_ , Cloud thought with every movement of their hands, of their tongues. _I love you so much it hurts_.

He managed to ignore their growing problems until Zack shifted to nibble on his neck (gods bless the green infantry scarves, they covered everything), and their full erections were pressed against each other, precum already leaking through.

“We…didn’t do a very good job of…not going too far,” Zack said as he continued sucking along Cloud’s neck. “Ha…oh well.”

_There won’t be any mess if I suck you off_ , Cloud thought, but a poke to his hip and an amused laugh told him he’d said that particular thought out loud.

“That’s great in theory, but what if you get called for inspection right after the power gets turned back on? You’d have morning breath _and_ dick breath…think of the questions.”

_I guess that’s a good point. “Yes, officer, I was following all regulations last night. Except for the one about not fraternizing with my superiors.”_ Zack had stopped kissing him, and Cloud scooted back towards the headboard. “You’ve got clean underwear, right?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”

“We can just wreck these boxers and change into new ones, problem solved,” Cloud said. “You know, until you can do laundry.”

“You’re a fucking genius,” Zack said, climbing out of the sleeping bag to rummage through his drawers.

“I’m a fucking genius or a _fucking_ genius?” Cloud asked, laughing when Zack snorted.

“Both. Here,” he said, and a wad of fabric hit Cloud right on the nose. “Incoming boyfriend.”

They frotted against each other with more purpose this time, the end goal already in sight. Having the fabric rubbing against their erections helped too, adding extra friction that their calloused hands would usually provide.

That left Zack’s hands free to massage up and down Cloud’s sides, in that way he knew drove him absolutely crazy, and Cloud moaned into the next series of kisses, causing Zack to do the same.

“Hnng, you feel so good,” Zack said before redoubling his efforts on Cloud’s mouth until they both needed air.

Minutes of that passed, and the room was pitch black, but Cloud could swear he was seeing stars. “Fuck, Zack, I’m so close,” Cloud said, gripping his boyfriend’s hips like a vice. “So close...”

“I got you,” he said, and it was with one more deliberate grind that Cloud came, the mess somehow managing to stay within the confines of his shorts. _That was lucky_. “Now let me…catch up.”

Zack rolled Cloud right through his own orgasm, and it was another thirty seconds at most before Zack came himself, burying his face in Cloud’s shoulder to muffle the scream.

“Why’d you try to keep quiet like that?” Cloud asked, already yawning with post-orgasm sleepiness. “No one else is up here, right?”

Zack giggled, and Cloud drew his eyebrows together. “I, uh, left the window open,” he admitted, brushing Cloud’s hair back apologetically.

“So the whole complex heard that? Fantastic.”

“I really don’t think sound carries that far,” Zack protested.

Cloud pinched him on the arm as he undid the sleeping bag’s zipper. “Not from what we can hear in the barracks.” _I swear, every time someone in SOLDIER leaves the windows open, everyone loses their fucking minds._

“Really? Oh, shit,” Zack said, pulling off his shorts and putting on clean ones as Cloud did the same. “They won’t know it was us, will they?”

“Uh, they all figured out I was dating you ages ago,” Cloud said. “And it’s not like we were that loud, but I’m probably the only infantryman not in the barracks. And you officially gave me permission to leave. So. It’ll be kind of obvious.”

“I’m really sorry,” Zack said, zipping the sleeping bag shut again. “Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”

“Yeah, cuddle me,” Cloud said, arranging their limbs until they were in his favorite position. “It’s cold outside. More wild rice soup would be nice, too.”

“As soon as I can, Spike. All the wild rice soup you could ever want.”

Sleepy hands entwined, Cloud smiled into Zack’s shoulder. “Thanks. I love you, by the way.”

“I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really struggling not to just hide under a rock with this. Smut is just...not my thing, I guess. In the writing or real-life sense. Day 5 has another go at it, but there's way more plot/fluff/bad jokes (aka my usual crap) to sweeten the pot, so to speak.
> 
> Tomorrow's is a canon fix-it. I kind of struggled with ideas since ASTG is my fix-it baby and already exists, but I got something for you guys.


End file.
